1965 Apollo GT

The Apollo GT was the brainchild of engineer Milt Brown and his partner Newt Davis. The youthful entrepreneurs envisioned a sports car with American reliability and Italian inspired design. The Apollo GT took shape as Frank Reisner, founder of “Intermeccanica,” became the coachbuilder. Brown enlisted designer Ron Plescia to sketch initial concepts for Intermeccanica to build in aluminum over the Milt Brown designed chassis. The first prototype was deemed too long in front and rear visibility was limited. Reisner called on former Bertone designer Franco Scaglione to refine the design, and the first cars went into production in 1963 as the Apollo 3500GT. Intermeccanica produced all Apollos in hand-formed steel, fabricated in Turin, and shipped to Oakland, California, where the drivetrains were installed and prepared for display at Brown’s dealership, International Motorcars of Oakland.

With a claimed top speed of 130 mph and a starting price of $6,000, the Apollo 3500GT was well-received by the automotive press. The lightweight Buick aluminum engine suited Brown’s original design and was readily available from GM. Apollo 3500GTs sold well and business seemed to be humming along, but at a retail price of $6,000, the company struggled to make ends meet. The duo hurriedly released a convertible and upgraded the engine selection to the five-liter 5000GT, but it was too little, too late. By mid-1965, the business was closed. International Motorcars sold 76 Apollo GT coupes (including 11 Vanguard Industries “Vetta Ventura” versions), 11 convertibles, and a prototype 2+2. A total of 88 Intermeccanica-bodied Apollos (some incomplete bodies shipped from Intermeccanica and later completed by independent shops) were built and shipped to the U.S.